1992 documentary about Luciano Pavarotti. Here, in his home town of Modena, he discusses some of the Italian tenors who influenced him: Tito Schipa, Beniamino Gigli and Giuseppe Di Stefano.
He was right about Schipa-a single note produced instant recognition and his voice projection was matchless -not a big voice but you could hear him clearly even at the back of the largest opera house -simply Schipa .
I’m so glad this starts with Schipa, he is all but forgotten, but was magnificent. “It’s Gigli...” De Stefano gives me chills here. I appreciate him more and more. The “open” sound is thrilling. I am too big a scaredy cat not to cover my passagio.
The critic is nice but Di Stefano gave me chills and will be remembered for such a gorgeous voice. And not many can say that they inspired the great Luciano Pavarotti.
Probably the critic said much more about Di Stefano but it didn't go to the film. He still said about his interpreting gift, it's quite enough. But i think it's not correct to call his technique as bad because he was genius and the people are still crazy about his "wrong" voice.
I think some of the comments made IN the video are perhaps out of context, or perhaps the speakers were not speaking with enough forethought. I think de Stefano's vocaly production was exemplary early o - and he DID test limits, but that is what great art is about! - but he changed ithe production trying for more, or else let his body go to seed - or maybe a combination of both, and that was what brought him down. Now the original production. Not every voice does the exact same things technically, despite what that voice teacher or expert in the video seems to imply. But I'm only hearing a few snippets of his, and don't know what was cut out of the interview.
@Lejfieg Agreed. Leone Magiera may not think much of Stefano's technique, but most opera aficionados would disagree with him. It was Stefano's masterful use of open notes which gave his performances a unique and effective quality that set him apart from his contemporaries.
Magiera è un dsirettore/ accomagnatore che crede di essere anche un insegnante di lirica... anche se sposò la Freni questo non significa che sia in grado di valutare le voci nel loro reale valore... la tecnica, certo... Di Stefano non era perfetto ma proprio quella imperfezione dava libertà ad un timbro benedetto dal cielo di non costringersi nei limiti rigidi della tecnica. Le voce solari mal sopportano la tecnica estrema. Alcuni tenori dalla voce buona o accettabile, sono diventati grazie alla tecnica, nasali, striduli e poco espressivi...
Schipa had a very unique sound, besides being a great singer. The colour and timbre of one's voice make the real difference, because one remembers the individual sound more readily.
I recall Pavarotti in a documentary telling of the only time his father had hit him. Pavarotti told his father that he had heard a better voice than Gigli..his fathers favourite. His father responded by slapping him in the face! Distefano recording of " songs of naples" is still one of my favourite recordings of any tenor.
joey spinoza Maybe Pavarotti, who unlike his father, had a career as a tenor, was thinking about technique? Personally, I think any tenor singing on any stage has merit. At Pavarotti, Gigli, DiStefano, Domingo, Carrere's level, it is a matter of personal choice as they all have magnificent voices!
rosa price Gigli had the greatest technique and this was agreed upon by Herbert Caesari, one of the greatest minds in singing technique. Gigli was a perfectly natural singer, and I think Pavarotti would agree with this, even though, its not his favorite pick. Some found Gigli a little to emotional with sobs etc. So musical taste would be more the issue. Recall, Pavarotti said Gigli could sing 20 to 30 pieces on demand after a full Opera. This was peanuts for Gigli. He had diabetes and he sang with health issues that would have stopped any other person from singing at that level. The amount of Opera's Gigli could sing in a week is unbelievable, and he could do a double bill without a problem. This is why Pavarotti said "he is the elastic the most vocal of all the tenors"
@@rosaprice don't put domingo and Carreras near these 3. Even then I would put di Stefano and Gigli apart from Pavarotti. Di Stefano and Gigli truly are Gods.
I strongly disagree, Pav is great but he never surpassed the greatest like Corelli Gigli Bjorling, he's mostly got a huge propaganda for him because he was arguably the greatest of his time, but if he was born earlier he would ve been one among many great tenors.
Pavarotti's eyes when he hears E Lucevan Le Stelle by Di Sefano, they say a thousand words. Theres no doubt he respected Di Stefano. If you hear the critic about Di Stefano's technique, he says the reason his technique is "bad" is because it tires the voice. nothing about how well it sounded.
That's what happens when you don't cover the voice at the passagio, and moreover, at the high notes. The larynx gets tired, the vocal chords get damaged, nice way to ruin your voice. Some people like Di Stefano make a good sound singing too open, but generally that is not the case, covering makes your voice richer, and like Pavarotti used to say, noble sound.
Franco Corelli (apparently) had more stage fright than most singers before a performance. But when he was on stage his intensity and focus served him well
Remember it was a different time with no internet and spotify. They of course listened to more local singers and Di Stefano, Schipa, Gigle were the great italian singers at that time for him to listen to. Björling was huge in Sweden and became huge in USA when he moved there.
Everybody who understand opera hear where his ifluenses came from and thats clear from Jussi Bjorling and noone else but of cource he is not aloud to talk about that he need to follow the rules of the maffia.
@Lejfieg You make a good point, but there is no denying that his voice was pretty shot later in life and it didn't have to be. That being said, he sang beautifully for the few years he was able to.
The teacher and most important positive influence on the singers of that period was Prof. Enrico Rosati, originally of Santa Cecillia, (before Gigli brought him to NY when he was engaged by Gatti Gassaza at the Met ! ) Rosati was a hard taskmaster and absolute dictator, but his pupils adored him and those who stuck it out lost their bad habits and idiosyncracies and universally became fine interpretative "artists" with vocal ranges they never had before, without "forcing" ; employing "il terzo registro" which employs the natural "echo chamber" of the skull's frontal sinus ! There has yet to be a teacher of his calibre and commitment to the art of "Bel Canto" ! He taught in his studio at the Osborne House on 57th St. across from Carnegie Hall, well into his eighties and his pupil roster, who loved and respected him, was the creme de la creme of the operatic WORLD ! Marina Thompson